Lucas Scott "Luke" Woolmer (born 25 January 1965) is an Australian politician. He was a

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

member of the

Legislative Assembly of Queensland The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly ...

from 1995 to 1998, representing the electorate of Springwood.

Early career

Prior to 1995 Springwood was held by Molly Robson of the Labor Party, who held the seat in the 1992 election with a majority of 10%. Woolmer, who worked in the

Information Technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...

sector prior to running for parliament, entered the election on the tail of the so-called "koala tollway" controversy, in which the Labor government had planned to build a

tollway A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road for which a fee (or '' toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented to help recoup the costs of road construction and mainten ...

through a

koala The koala (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), sometimes inaccurately called the koala bear, is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only Extant taxon, extant representative of the Family (biology), family ''Phascolar ...

sanctuary. Woolmer won the election by 18.5%, having received a swing of 19.4% on the back of the preferences from the minor parties.

Parliament

While in parliament Woolmer served as an

undersecretary Undersecretary (or under secretary) is a title for a person who works for and has a lower rank than a secretary (person in charge). It is used in the executive branch of government, with different meanings in different political systems, and is a ...

with a focus on IT issues. He helped to establish the government's Ministerial Council for IT & T, and he had hoped to become the state's first IT minister after the 1998 election. This, however, was not to be, as a swing back to Labor saw Woolmer lose his seat to Labor's Grant Musgrove by a narrow margin.

Later years

After his 1998 loss, Woolmer ran unsuccessfully for pre-selection in the Federal seat of

McPherson McPherson is a Scottish surname. It is an Anglicised form of the Gaelic ''Mac a' Phearsain'' and ''Mac a Phearsoin'', meaning "son of the parson". Notable people with the surname include: In sports *Adrian McPherson, American football player ...

, before returning to work in the IT sector.

References

Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Queensland 1965 births Living people Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly {{Australia-Liberal-politician-stub